


Cake or Death? HOW 'BOUT BOTH

by mandaree1



Series: it ain't technically a baby draft if they're your kids [13]
Category: She-Ra and the Princesses of Power (2018)
Genre: Background Catadora, Burnt Cake, But in the au they're basically married lol, Hurt/Comfort, Pregnant Glimmer, cake fights, i mean not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-25
Updated: 2019-03-25
Packaged: 2019-12-07 14:27:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,413
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18236129
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mandaree1/pseuds/mandaree1
Summary: "Now you're just trying to butter me up."Bow held up his hands. "Guilty as charged. Please don't murder me for dragging you out of bed."For a moment, she considered mercy. In that moment she loaded her fork full of cake, which she then flicked at his face. "Never!Veeeeeeeeengeaaaaance!"





	Cake or Death? HOW 'BOUT BOTH

Glimmer hates that they give her space. Hates it because it's not for her health, it's a choice they made on her behalf- that they thought, 'ah, yes, baby scare, this is definitely the best time to leave a hormonal pregnant lady alone' and then had the guts to do said thing.

And Glimmer _knows_ that they don't mean anything by it. They don't. The Horde is a messed up place where it's more respectful to leave someone who's having a breakdown or the flu or some other urgent matter alone instead of helping. Years away from the Horde haven't changed that it's where Catra and Adora spent their childhood, and it shows- Adora, having been told to deliver her breakfast this morning, did so with a hand cupping the side of her face for what the woman assumed would be to Glimmer's comfort. (Which it _wasn't_ , it kind of sucked actually, but she got points for trying.)

As for Bow... Well, Glimmer hasn't seen much of Bow since the baby almost came.

She's got half a mind to punch him for it.

Glimmer sighs, running a hand over her face. She's been spudding it in her room for the past day or so, but nothing had come of it except some greasy hair. She'd hoped that it might bring some level of peace. It hadn't.

Reluctantly, she dragged herself out of bed. Glimmer grabbed some loose shorts and a stretchy purple sweater her Aunt had made her when she found out the news and forced herself to go out into the hall. No one was around, provoking a sigh of relief before she continued down the hall to the communal showers. She lounged on a bench for what felt like hours, letting the hot water pound her skin. Still nothing. Damnit.

She exited some time later, clean but otherwise still troubled. There was a conspicuous lack of guards even now, which told Glimmer that they'd been ordered to keep at a distance. After a lifetime at the castle, it made her unsettled.

Then she heard Castaspella's voice, and things got even more awkward.

"I just don't know, girls," she was saying, in that tone of voice that screamed she _did_ know and she wasn't pleased she couldn't put whatever she thought into action. "It's been two days, and it's-"

"If she wanted to talk about it, she would." That was Catra. As Glimmer neared them, she could just make out the trio around a corner. Her friends were equally as sweater-ed as she was, an incredible feat considering it was practically sweltering out, especially for December. Catra's was a bright orange, and judging from her messy hair static cling was very much in effect as she irritably wiggled a fuzzy tail. "I mean, it's _her_ gut. Let her do what she wants with it."

"I think she did," Adora chipped in. "Hence the pregnant part."

"You know what I meant, smartass."

Her Aunt's scowl dipped lower at the retort, but seeing how she and Angella had slung worse words at each other (albeit far more passive-aggressively) when Glimmer had first arrived in Mystacor she was beyond chiding them about it. "I just... want to help."

Adora visibly flinched back at the vulnerability in Castaspella's voice. She rubbed at her arm- something Glimmer knew was her second favorite response to discomfort, the first being punching something.

Catra, equally unsettled, looked away. "Glimmer's not a baby. She can handle herself."

"Yes, but she _having_ a baby."

Glimmer turned away. She wondered, belatedly, if Catra had smelled or heard her coming and going. It would explain why she'd been so adamant; arguing in her place, so to speak. If there was one thing to be said about Catra, it was that she hated people deciding her limits for her, and that extended to most anyone she liked in any capacity.

She curled up and went back to sleep.

* * *

"Glimmmeeerrrrrrr," someone whispered. "Glimmmeeerrrr, waaaakkkeeeee uppppp. I ssuuuucccck at snnneeaaaakky voooiiccesss."

Glimmer did so, though she came up swinging a pillow. "Who the _fudgesicles_ is waking me up before dawn?" she snarled, just barely missing the intruder's temple. "Who wants to die _that_ badly?"

Bow's shiny armor caught her bleary eyes. He awkwardly waved. "Sorry, I know this is a bad time, but-"

"You've been gone for days!" she shouted, bopping him another one. "The only reason our child isn't a _dangerously_ young preemie is some bullshit magic and _you've been gone_ and that's even more bullshit!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Bow paused. "Wait, where is the line drawn between bullshit and fudgesicles?"

"It's too early for this, Bow."

"Sorry," he said again, then held out his hand. "C'mon. I wanna show you something."

Glimmer cocked her pillow again.

"It'll be worth it, I promise."

She took his hand with a pained groan, letting the man pull her out of bed. She didn't bother with getting dressed this time. Glimmer did a quick run-through of her hair with her fingers as they walked down a plain hallway. Not even a hint of guards. It was downright terrifying at this point.

Suddenly, Bow clapped his hands across her eyes. "No peeking!"

"I was doing something like this in my bed," she commented, touching the hands. "Only it was nice, not evil."

She heard a door open, and then they were in the kitchen. There was a lopsided cake on the table, topped with a truly unhealthy amount of frosting. Banners littered the walls, spelling out, "Happy birthday!" in metallic colors.

"It's... my birthday?" Glimmer asked, touched he'd remembered when she hadn't. "Things've been so hectic, I haven't..."

"I would've done this sooner, but I burnt the first three cakes," explained Bow as he pulled her towards the table. "You know how I am with baking."

"How burnt is this one?"

"I mean, the frosting covers most of it." He got to work cutting her a slice. "Sit down, Glimmer. It'll take a sec to chisel through."

Glimmer did so. She was surprised she was surprised, honestly. Her insecurities had always been present, and they'd usually been about her relationship with Bow- platonic or romantic or both- but she'd never misread his intentions this badly before. Glimmer didn't know if it was her stress or her near-birth-experience that brought this about.

"Bow?" she said.

"Yeah?"

"What if I'm a bad mom?"

Bow stopped mid-cut to stare at her. "What? Glimmer, that's crazy. You're _Glimmer_."

"And look what happened! I almost had the baby so early she would've been really sick."

"I mean, _yeah_ , that happened and it was scary, but it was hardly your fault." He shimmied the mass of half-burnt pastry onto a plate and nudged it her way. "Pregnancy is weird. I mean, you're growing a whole human in your tum-tum. That's weird! It's not surprising there'd be some oopsies here and there."

"Maybe," Glimmer admitted. "But what if it was a sign?"

"I _think_ you're giving the oopsie too much meaning." Bow finally sat down. He hadn't made himself a plate, focused entirely on comforting her. "Listen, Glimmer. I'm not gonna pretend this is gonna be easy. We just hit a bump and I spent two days burning cake instead of talking about it. But I know you'll do great. You're strong, and smart, and you're too stubborn _not_ to do the thing. Okay?"

"That's... _reasonably_ comforting, I guess."

"I love you," he added.

"Love you too."

"You're awesome."

Glimmer snorted. "Now you're just trying to butter me up."

Bow held up his hands. "Guilty as charged. Please don't murder me for dragging you out of bed."

For a moment, she considered mercy. In that moment she loaded her fork full of cake, which she then flicked at his face. "Never! _Veeeeeeeeengeaaaaance_!"

"Glimmer I will call a cake fight-" he grabbed a handful, squishing it between his fingers. Glimmer inwardly flinched at what must've been a horrible sensation- "If you don't admit you're amazing right this instant!"

She grabbed a chunk of her own, shouting between ugly cackles, "DEATH CAKE BOWS TO NO BOW!"

"That's it!" Bow slammed the table, struggling to breathe himself. "Death cake is gonna get _all_ the hugs now!"

They ended up on the floor, covered head to toe in sticky cake and frosting regrets. Glimmer couldn't stay that way for long, eventually yanking her way back into her seat. "Thanks, Bow. I needed that."

He sent her a thumbs up. "Anytime."

**Author's Note:**

> Not my smoothest ending, I admit, but I had a lot of fun with it! Bow and Glimmer and major dorks.
> 
> -Mandaree1


End file.
